A front spoiler arrangement of the generic type is known from DE 10 2014 100 190 A1, for example. Front spoiler arrangements are normally used for improving the air resistance of the motor vehicle supporting the front spoiler arrangement through extracting or retracting the flow guiding component with respect to the vehicle body. Normally, the flow guiding components are positioned in front of the front wheels, so that they may advantageously influence the air flow to the front wheels in relation to air resistance of the motor vehicle.
In the further retracted position, the flow guiding component is less subject to an air flow flowing around the moving vehicle with respect to the further extracted position. It normally protrudes in the further retracted position less from the rest of the vehicle body with respect to the further extracted position.
One problem affecting these front spoiler arrangements is that the flow guiding component in the further extracted position is subject to collision risk with obstacles which may be present in normal road traffic, such as curbstones, litter, ice blocks or even small animals. To this end, in the past, solutions have been already proposed.
A known solution consists in that the flow guiding component is moved from the further retracted to the further extracted position only starting from a determined threshold speed, since above a certain threshold speed of approximately 60 km/h it is likely that the vehicle is running on a flat and obstacle free road, both in an urban environment, on a well-constructed connecting road and in a rural environment on a state road or highway. In this way a collision with typical obstacles during maneuvers like curbstone edges and similar may be avoided. This solution is widely employed, since the flow guiding component at lower driving speeds and consequently lower flow speeds has a negligible effect, and may therefore be omitted in the lower speed range.
It is also known to construct flow guiding components from elastic or even elastomeric material, so that in case of collision with an object when driving, they may yield due to deformation to the impulse-like collision forces, which have a very high peak value. This however has the drawback that at higher speeds, even without a collision, the flow dynamic loads on the flow component due to relative wind cause a deformation of the flow guiding components and therefore may negatively affect their flow guiding function.
It is also known to use pneumatic moving actuators which are coupled to the flow guiding component, so that in case of a collision between the flow guiding component and an object, the flow guiding component may perform, due to gas compression in the pneumatic actuator, a limited deviating or retracting movement. The object of yielding of the moving actuator of the front spoiler arrangement is however contrasting to the object of holding the flow guiding component, even at high driving speeds, securely in the further extracted position. Therefore, the deviating movement of the flow guiding component in this solution is very limited.
It is also known to provide a sliding coupling in the force and torque transmission path between the moving actuator and the flow guiding component, which in case of collision with obstacles slides over the extracted flow guiding component, therefore allowing a deviating movement of the flow guiding component to the further retracted position. Such a complex coupling is known from DE 199 53 484 A1, for example. These couplings usually require a lot of space both in the axial direction, around a rotating output shaft of the moving actuator, and in the corresponding radial direction.